im surprise u put epi 4 and balance plot in the same sentence. Aside from the mecha/msv/zeon porn and character development between Banagher and Zinnerman, the plot as a whole is a jumble mess. Loni was suppose to hav more backstory and the location is underwhelming. In the novel both Dakar n Torrington is one of the location la+ brings them and while i understand they nid to cut abit to shorten it and choose to focus on just 1, making Torrington as the main plot location while relegating Dakar as mere distraction is abit out of place, tey should hav switch it to Dakar (which is what the novel focus on anyway). Since la+ is forcing the characters to visit all important uc location, Dakar holds more importance then Torrington it'll make more sense for it to be the main focus. Also it'll be more convenient plot wise since the crew of Garencieres landed in Africa anyway, its much closer to Dakar then it is to Australia. Also by showing the city next to Torrington that Shamblo destroy, it actually retcon 0083 since there is no such city, its just some remote military base.

I dun really like epi 4 to be honest.

3 way fight is pretty much standard in most gundam story it isn't anything surprising. Yes its bit blur cuz the OVA is trying to cramp 10 volume novel into 7 epi anime but it isn't too bad. U can still follow who is on which sides and who is fighting for what. I think understanding/knowing of the uc universe and history also factors in the blurriness.

As kintaro has said, if unicorn is ur gateway to uc, u pretty much lost in terms of back story and history. Knowing uc offers more insight into the world and while u can still watch unicorn, alot of its mumble jumble and ideology u would not catch. U would enjoy it more if u know bout uc then if u dont. Since there will be tons of time in between epi 6 and 7, why dun u go and watch all uc series (chronologically of cuz, no point watching f91, victory, etc for the sole purpose of understanding unicorn) mainly 0079, zeta, zz and cca. U can ignore 0083, 0080, 08th and igloo if u dun hav the time, those r not really important to unicorn story.

fake, schedule arent release so early.

also bandai hav bf and unicorn finale next year, tey wont hav any resources for other stuff. Besides bandai had been burned b4 by making new series 1 after another within the span of a year (g-wing-x) ultimately fans got fatigue and end up hurting x rating and it had to be cut short. Bandai arent gonna make the same mistake again.

Also the listing usually separated base on types, full fledge series, ovas and movies each hav its own individual table. The full fledge series is usually at the top and by crossbone being there its implied that it'll be a full fledge series which is nonsense since crossbone dun hav enuf materials.